Improvement in game apparatus



2 She'ets sheet 1.-

P, WEST & a. S. LEE.

Game Apparatus.

Patented Oct. 21,1873.

FIG-1- UPPER CASTLE FORTE sown:

INVENTOR WITNESSES 16.9 C (r 5" v zsheet'ssh'eetzf P. WEST 81. G. 8. LEE.

' Game Apparatus. No. 143,799. PatentedOct. 21,1873.

LEFT CASTLE THRONE FUGHT CASTLE PORTE mrnn STATES FFICEO IMPROVEMENT IN GAME APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patenth'o. 143,799, dated October 21, 1873; application filed June 6, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatwe, PRESBURY VVEs'r and GEORGE S. LEE, both of the city and county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Outdoor or Field Games;

and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and words, figures, and letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a plan View of the stationary or fixed devices used in playing the game and Fig. .2, Sheet 2, represents a front or end View of the same devices, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow in Benet.A ball that has failed in first stroke in passing porte.

Castles-The frames with numbered compartments (see the drawings) placed at upper end and 011 two sides of the field, the center points being directly opposite to'and upon line with center point of throne.

Oompartments..-The numbered half circle aperture in throne and castles.

Counting.-Nmnbered dials with pointers.

Double enthronement.-To pass beneath porte garde to throne, or from castle to throne, by one direct stroke, and thus form a double score.

Double encastlement. -To pass beneath porte or garde to castle, or from throne to castle, by one direct stroke.

Direct stroke.Pa-ssing, by one stroke of the mallet, beneath porte or garde, or from castle tov throne, or vice versa, and securing position.

Double scorelo count twice the original Value of the compartment in which the ball finds position.

Dead ball.--On.e that has taken an outstroke.

Enthronement.---A ball taking position in any compartment of throne, entitled to score the number of such compartment entered.

Encastlement.-A ball taking position in any compartment of any castle, and entitled to such score.

En sortie.-The position in which the balls are first placed-the starting-point.

En bastile.A ball holding position in any one of the bastiles.

Flinch.When a ball with which a player is about to accoste slips from beneath the foot.

Field.--The space that would be inclosed were boundary lines. run parallel with, and back of, sortie and castles.

Garde.-The curved .iron rod (each end placed in ground) occupying position between the upper castle and throne.

In position.-A ball resting before porte, garde, or any coi'npartment of throne or castle.

Kn1gs.-Those selected as leaders, and distinguished by color of band upon ball.

Knights.Gompanion players chosen by the queen, and distinguished by color of band upon ball.

. Ladies, or maids of honor.-Those chosen by the knights as companion players to assist them, and designated by color of band upon ball.

Mai ch .A certain number of games or points to be played for.

Out'strokelhe stroke by which a player is put out by being enthroned after becoming *anquer.

Out of position.-A ball so situated in the field that it can either enthrone, encastle, or pass garde or porte.

P0rte.--The curved iron rod, with points entering the ground, placed opposite and between sortie andthrone.

Ierdue.A ball struck beyond the boundaries of the field.

Queens-Ladies selected by the kings as companions in game, and distinguished by color of band upon ball.

Sortie.The curved frame at the lower end of field, before which the balls are placed to open the game.

Throne.The eight-pointed frame, with num bered compartments between each point, its position being in direct center of field.

Tournament-The best of three matches. Vanquer.-A ball that has successfully en throned and encastled, and has entered for the last time any compartment of the left castle.

The following are the implements and de vices: These consist of four or sixballs, an equal number of mallets, throne, three castles, sortie, porte, garde, and two bastiles.

Balls.-'-'American rock-maple possesses sufficient strength'and elasticity for making balls, and, when used with a suitable mallet, isof the proper specific gravity. Afterbeing turned in an exact spherical form, they are well oiled, or painted in colors corresponding exactly to those used in croquet, but classed, however, in a different order, as follows: First, king, black second, king, brown; third, queen, blue; fourth, queen, green; fifth, knight, yellow; sixth, knight, red. It is also customary to paint some portion of the mallet to correspond with them, and it is a very great advantage, as it assists the memory to connect them with their respective balls;

Mallet.'lhe material of which the head is made is the same as that of the balls, their weight being in exact proportion to those with which they are to be used, so that they will yield freely tothe blow given by the player. The handle should be of straight-grained, wellseason ed ash, about three feet in length, turned smooth, and nicely polished. A portion of each mallet-handle is painted and striped similar to the ball with which it is used.

Sortie.-The light frame placed at lower end of field, giving position to the balls in opening the game.

Porte and garde.These are alike in size and shape, the distance between the prongs being about nine inches; the points being placed in the ground will leave the space above about eight inches. The position of porte is directly in front of sortie, about half-way between sortie and throne. The position of garde is halfway between upper castle and throne.

Throne-The eight-pointed frame occupying place in center of field, with numbered compartments to receivethe balls. The compartmentnumbered 8 should be on a direct line with center point in sortie.

Castles-There are three, known, respectively, as right castle, upper castle, and left castle, and occupy those respective positions, each with its center point so placed with reference to throne that a line drawn from the center point of upper castle passes directly through the center of upper compartment of throne, the center and lower compartment of same, and be on a direct line with center point in sortie. The right and left castles should also be as accurately placed. 4

Bastiles-There are two of these, having but a' single compartment, of the same 1nate-- rial as throne, and are placed directly opposite, a little outside of a line drawn directly from center of right and left castle to center of upper castle, and on each side of garde, with the opening in each directed toward the point of throne, to the right and left, respectively,

of center compartment in it.

All the devices shown in the (hawings may be made of any suitable material. We prefer, however, making them of metal and metal wire of sufficient size to give the required stiffness.

It will be observed that the throne and ms tles are made up from single sections of any suitable material, like the bastiles. The latter are, in this instance, made from two pieces of wire, A and B, the udre A being so bent as to have two raised curved parts, a and 1), two loops or eyes, 0 c, which rest on the ground like feet, and two legs, which, with the lower end of the brace-wire-B, are wound together by means of a small wire, as shown at d. The

lower ends of the legs of wire A and the lower I end of the wire B project below the wound parts, and serve as points to enter the ground to hold the back part of the device firm. To hold the front part, staples e or other equivalent devices are driven into thev groimd through the eyes 0. The upper end of wire B is hooked or looped around the curved part a, as indiandhave a general supervision, their decision being final in all disputed cases. The kings are first chosen, who then proceed to select their queens, who, in turn, promote their knights, who then, in turn, select their com- I panion maids of honor. If the players are not evenly matched, points may be given either to individual players or the whole side. The choice of color, balls, &c., are, in rule, kings,

black and brown; queens, blue and green;

knights ormaids ofhonor, yellow and red. The king who, from position en sortie, drives his ball the nearest to enthronement at 8, selects his queen first, and also has precedence in playin How to stand-The requisites of a correct position are, a firm footing, the body in an easy position for striking, a good sight of the line of projection. The position of the body determines, in a great measure, the success of a player.

What it is to be benet,- hen a player fails in his attempt to pass his ball through porte the ball becomes benet, and is placed near sortie to wait the players next turn.

How to strike-Having a satisfactory poise, the next thing is to deliver the stroke; but first you must determine where to strike your ball. Where balls are on sortie or encastlcd it is easy to see just where to deliver the blow but in an open field a few directions may not be amiss. To drive a ball in the direction of upon the ball at the point indicated.

a line parallel with that from thetoe of your right boot to the toe of the left, .the mallet must strike fairly upon the. center of the ball, or on alinepassing thro'ughthe mallet-head and centerof the ball. .Having thisrightly understood, swing backthe mallet with an easy action of thewrist,moving the arm as little as compatible with freedom, andlet fall The mallet should be allowed to fall .by its own weight, J rather than by any muscularly-imparted impetus, as that has a tendency to impair the steadiness of the stroke. A very common cause of failureis the twisting-of the mallet-head to one side justas the strokeis given. The remedy is hold the mallet tight; let the wrist play as loose as you like, but the hand must-keep a firm gripe of the mallet; a loose grasp is not only fertile source of erratic play, but fatal to accurate striking. V

Accoste.-- This is very. simple. The player has only to acquire the not difficult art of hit ting the ball, and the ball only, and all is learned that is necessary, and is done as follows: When a ball has-hit another ball-that is, accosted it-the' player lays his own ball against it, s0 that it. touches it. The player then places his foot on his own ball and strikes with the mallet. The effect of this will be to drive theother ball in any direction the player may choose, which, of course, will be governed by whether the ball thus accosted belongs to a player on his own side or'on that of the opposing force. A friend can thus, by an accoste, send a partner through either porte orgarde into a compartment, or drive an enemy who has obtained a good position exactly in the opposite direction to that in which he wishes to travel. Manyv thoughtless players think nothing ofdriving a foe close to a friend, or, in the hope of assisting their side, send a friend in the immediate neighborhood of. a foe, thus improving the position of the adverse side and damaging that of their own. The difference a few thoughtful players make to a side is wonderful, while others hit their balls about without ever thinking that at the neXt turn a foe will probably accoste them.. The careful players, anticipating the position of the other balls, place themselves in a position from which, when their next .turn comes, they can either go past porte or garde or accoste the ball of a more careless player. hat it is to be vanquer.-W'hen aplayer has gone the rounds and encastled twice in the left castle, (in regular routine of the game,)

he may either. pass porte and retireor not do so and. be a vanquer, with the priv lege of traveling over the groimd to assist players on his own side or damage the prospects of those on the other. Thus it will be seen that a good vanquerer is of the greatest service to the side, and that the sooner he is placed hors do combat the better for the other side. The vanquerers on the other side should, therefore, do all they can to make. sucha ball pass porte by accostin g it, if possible, as, the best player he 'tance.

, and level the ground the betteradapted it is to the purpose.

.as nearly forty-two feet in length by twenty- In shape it should be oblong,

four in width as possible. The boundaries of the field are always determined by a line running parallel to and about two feet back of castles and sortie.

. The following is the arrangement of sortie, porte, throne, castles, garde, and bastiles, (see drawings First, placethethroneincenterof field. Todo this properly, after locating such center,take the section of the throne numbered 8 drive into the gro1md the point at its heel until the spur rests solidly upon the earth, taking care that the opening in the section points directly toward the center of lower boundary of field. Take, then, section numbered 3; place its left-hand point against the right point of section 8, al' ready placed; drive in one of the long staples, and, when firm, swing the heel around until the two circles in 8 and 3 touch; then drive in the point at heel until, like 8, the spur rests solidly on. the ground. Take the section 7 place in the same manner as 3 and 8, until 4,

1, 6,2, and 5 are placed, always working from left to right in this order, and, when placed, the

throne will present this appearance; and, if correctly placed, the outer eyes will all connect, forming a perfect circle.

Now, with a line passing through figures 1.

and 8, place sortie andupper castle at the farthest limit your ground will admit of. In the same manner, place right and left castles, by a line passing through figures 7 and 2 of throne, one castle to right and one to left of throne. .Divide the center of throne and sortie, and place porte with its center directly on the line you have before drawn. In the. same manner place garde-between upper castle and throneobserving the same proportion of dis- The center opening in all castles must open upon one directly opposite in throne. The center point in sortie, when placed, should point directly to center of section numbered 8 in throne. The castles can be placed at any desired curve, but section numbered 5 will open directly upon section numbered 7. .Sections numbered 1 and 2 of throne and the other two sections in castles, i. 0., 3 3, can be placed at a greater or less curve. They" are set in the same manner as each section of throne, commencing with section numbered 5, 0., the center one. The bastiles are single.

compartments, exactly like each section of throne or castle, andare placed, one at each upper corner of field, half-waybetween the castles, but a little outside of a direct line drawn from right to upper castle, and from left to upper castle.

The game commencing, the black or brown 1 king, as the case may be, endeavors by striking his ball with mallet to drive it under the arch porte, and reach the center point of throne, which, succeeding in doing by a direct stroke, would entitle him to a double score of 8, i. a, 16; with a mallet length he then strives to encastle at the right, succeeding in which he doubles the score of place of encastlement; and with another mallet length endeavors to again enthrone, succeeding in which by direct stroke, he scores double the value of compartment entered, and, with a mallet length, strives again for castle, when, if an encastlement should be made, another double score, and a mallet length in direction of garde to upper castle; thence to throne; thence to left castle and return to throne; again to left castle, when he becomes vanquer, and can either enthrone, puttmg himself out of the game, or strive to harass the enemy or assist his party. As soon, however, as he should miss passing porte, enthroning, encastling, or going through garde, either playing up the field or on return, his play is over until it becomes his turn again. Thus, if he sends his ball through porte, and it rests between it and throne, he is entitled to anotherstroke by passing porte; but should he enthrone at that stroke, only the value of the compartment of throne entered could be scored; should he not enthrone, the opposing king then plays, and when it is the turn of the first again to play he is not privileged to enthrone till he shall have first encastled. If, however, he does not pass porte, he is then benet, and must replace his ball en sortie and wait till all the others have played before he is allowed to try again-the opposite king playing, and the others in their respective orders, black, brown, blue, green, yellow, and red.

Summary-The game consists of the greatest number of points that can be gained in passing from sortie to right castle, (if no enthronement is made by two strokes from sortie;) thence to throne; return to right castle; thence to upper castle; return through garde to throne; thence to left castle; thence to throne, and," returning to left castle, become vanquer. portance to make the score great as possible, by selecting those compartments of highest count, and by as many direct strokes as possible. The player who reaches the upper castle first has advantage for a time, as, in returning, he will meet the other players, and be enabled to accoste and considerably impede their progress. The one making or having the greatest score at last enthronement of last player wins the game; or a certain number of points giziy' be played for, without reference to the The following are the rules and regulations:

1. Two of the party are chosen as kings. These two make a trial of skill in driving their balls from sortie to center compartment of throne. The one whose ball is driven nearest it has first cho1ce of queen, commences the game, and plays until his ball misses passing It will thus be seen that it is of importe, enthronin g, or encastling, when the order of the other side takes his turn.

Order of succeeding players.--2. The players on each side are to play alternately, according to their order of rank, and in which they are chosen-blue, green, yellow, redand in which they play unchanged during the game.

3. A player continues to play until he fails in an attempt to pass porte encastle, enthrone, or pass garde or when, encastled or enthroned, he voluntarily relinquishes his play, preferring to remain out of danger in his place of enthronement or encastlement.

First position of ball, en sortie.-4. On commencing, the players must place their balls e11 sortie, in their order of succession.

Striking the ball.-5. The first stroke must be to pass the ball beneath porte.

6. The ball must be struck with one of the faces of the mallet-head; never with its side.

7. The ball must be fairly struck, and never pushed. A ball is considered as fairly struck when the sound of the stroke is heard, and pushed when the ball is propelled without the mallet being drawn back. i

8. If a ball be struck otherwise than with the face of the mallet, if it be pushed, or if, in stiking at his own ball, a player hits another, it is a foul stroke, and the player loses his turn, and any balls disturbed shall be replaced'or sufi'ered to remain at the option of the other side.

9. A player may play in any attitude and use his mallet with his hands in any way he pleases, provided the ball is struck with the face of the mallet.

10. If, in making a strike, a ball is driven beyond the limits of the field, it may be taken up and placed at the point where it crossed the boundary line.

11. When the ball is, by accident, driven from its resting-place, it is to be returned to the spot from which it was started.

12. In lieu of aiming at throne, castle, porte, garde, or bastile, or at another ball, a player may strike his ball toward any part of the ground he pleases.

Porte and garde.13. The balls must pass through these in their regular order. If a ball passes porte or garde, and enthrones or encastles, such enthronement or encastlement is of no account, and he has no privilege above a regular miss. If, however, he should, in his blunder, enter a bastile, the rules governing that are the same as if forcibly put in by an enemy.

14. If a player with one stroke drives his ball beneath porte or garde, he continues his course, as stated in rule 3, and, should he at this stroke make the passage and an enthronement or encastlement, would be entitled to double the score of compartment entered.

15. If a ball is struck through porte or garde by a blow from another ball, or is, by friend or foe, accosted beneath either, it is considered the same as if its own player had made the stroke.

16. Any player at first stroke missing porte becomes benet, takes his ball up, and, when w it is his turn again to play, places it en sortie,

as at-first. v p

17. If by direct stroke a ball passes beneath porte and enthrones, its player scores double the value of place of enthronement; but if one stroke is given to pass porte and another to enthrone, only the plain value of the compartment is allowed.

18. If in two strokes from sortie the player does not-enthrone, he must go to the right castle before permitted to again strive for the throne. V r

19. ball has fairly passed porte or garde when 1t passes within and beyond it to any extent, so that, if a mallet-handle is laid across the outside of both points of arch, the ball willnot touch the handle.

20. A direct stroke from sortie or castle to an enthronement scores double the value of compartment entered.

The throne-21. A ball upon its play securmg position in any compartment of throne is equivalent in its privileges of playing to, or

' same as passagebeneath, porte or garde-4. 6.,

entitled to another playand whatever score it makes by enthronement.

22. A- mallet length is always taken from throne, the end of the mallet-handle being placed against the heel of the section from whence the ball is taken.

23. As soon as a player enthrones or becomes so by the stroke of an adversary after hehas encastled for the last time in left castle, such ball is dead, and must be removed from the field.

24.. As long as it remains in its compartment a ball enthroned is safe from an outside at tack, anduthe player having such ball, deeming it ineXpedient to venture out because of theproximity of his opponent, may remain and pass his stroke, in which case, .however,

he does not have another stroke until his turn shall have again come.

25. A ball is considered enthroned when morethan half its diameter is within the outer points of the compartment; 7 v 26. A player having passed porte plays to throne or to right castle, as he may elect,

but if, after passingporte, heplays for'the throne and misses, he has no right to again play to-the throne until he shall have encastled or accosted an opposing ball. r

27. A ball driven with too great force may sometimes enter the throne, but makes no count; it has, however, all privileges that. it would have had-if ithad enthroned in a compartment,;with exception of count.

'28. A ball accosted by an opponent and entering any compartment of throne scores same as if the player had madethe score himself,

and, upon its turn to play,--takes a=mallet length,'as usual in enthronement.

29. A ball driven with great sometimes lodge back of the fastening-pins and between compartments. The player conforce may ti-nues his play the same as though a compartment had been entered, but adds no score.

30. A player accosting a ball, and then, on next stroke, enthroning, scores double, but is deprived, on leaving his position, of, at next stroke, accosting the same ball.

Castles. 3l. A mallet length from any com-- partment entered is always given.

32. A direct stroke from castle to throne, or vice versa, scores double. e

33. A ball encastled has same privileges as enthroned, all rules applying to the throne governing the castles. Y

34. The order of playing the field is, from sortie to right castle, if no enthronementis made; right castle to throne and return to right castle .thence, beneath garde, to upper castle; return beneath garde to throne; thence to left castle thence to throne; thence to left castle, when the ball is vanquer, the last encastlement making it such.

35. All compartments of castles are numbered 3 5 3, 5 being'the center compartment.

Bastiles.--36. A ball, either forced into a bastile by an enemy or inadvertently finding position there, gives a score of five to the opopposing force for liberation; or, if the side turns, butmust not accoste the same ball twice f in one turn. 1

Havingdescribed our improvements in outdoor or field games, what we claim therein as new and of our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

' 1. The combmatlon and relative arrangement of the devices marked and described as throne, castles, and bastiles, for playingan outdoor or field game, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 2.: The combination and relative arrange ment of the devices marked and described as sortie, porte, throne, castles, garde, and bas= tiles, for playing an outdoor or field game, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with the parts A and B, of metal or other suitable material, co11= structed and combined together as shown and described, of the part d, to form a bastile and sections of the throne and castles, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

; PRESBURY WEST.

GEORGE S. LEE.

Witnesses Tnos. H. Donen, E. E. MOORE. 

